You are using an older browser version. Please use a supported version for the best MSN experience.

Uma Thurman praised for sharing personal story about teen abortion trauma

The Independent 22/09/2021 Peony Hirwani

Uma Thurman is receiving praise for hitting out against Texas’ abortion laws, in a new op-ed column for The Washington Post that shared her own personal experience.

File image: Uma Thurman at the 2020 Hollywood For The Global Ocean Gala

- Getty Images

The 51-year-old star said that she has followed “with great sadness and something akin to horror” the implementation of the law that bans abortions when fetal cardiac activity is detected — long before many women are even aware that they’re pregnant.

The Pulp Fiction star revealed how she was impregnated by “a much older man” as a teenager while away from home and acting in Europe.

“I was living out of a suitcase in Europe, far from my family, and about to start a job. I struggled to figure out what to do. I wanted to keep the baby, but how?” she wrote.

Thurman said it was decided “as a family” that she could not go through with the pregnancy, and that termination was the right choice.

“My heart was broken nonetheless,” she said. “The abortion I had as a teenager was the hardest decision of my life, one that caused me anguish then and that saddens me even now, but it was the path to the life full of joy and love that I have experienced.”

The implications of US Supreme Court’s refusal to block Texas abortion law

The Independent See more videos

What to watch next

UP NEXT

Many fans, including reproductive justice activist Renee Bracey Sherman, praised Thurman for sharing her story.

“Thank you for speaking out, Uma Thurman,” Sherman wrote on Twitter.

“The abortion I had as a teenager was the hardest decision of my life, one that caused me anguish then and that saddens me even now, but it was the path to the life full of joy and love that I have experienced.”
Thank you for speaking out, Uma Thurman. ♥️https://t.co/YK0gBieZHn
— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) September 21, 2021

Another fan wrote: “I adore you with my whole heart Ms Uma, I applaud your strength and kindness.”

i adore you with my whole heart ms uma i applaud your strength and kindness 🥰
Opinion | Uma Thurman: The Texas abortion law is a human rights crisis for American women - The Washington Post https://t.co/gv7DwVtozP
— amy 💕 (@broccolilesbian) September 22, 2021

Excellent Uma Thurman editorial on the abusive discriminatory Texas abortion law. https://t.co/zfwiuBkeFz (Washington Post)
— Stephen Walli (@stephenrwalli) September 21, 2021

Strikingly personal op-ed from Uma Thurman, who writes about her teenage abortion.
“I can assure you that no one finds herself on that table on purpose.” https://t.co/FQMtNrAeTm
— Shawn McCreesh (@ShawnMcCreesh) September 21, 2021

Listen to Uma. Keep abortion legal. Uma Thurman: The Texas abortion law is a human rights crisis for American women https://t.co/Rq32FALcEw
— John Judy (@PapaJohnJudy) September 21, 2021

In Texas, abortion providers are now prohibited from performing a procedure if they can detect foetal heart tones, something the ban describes as “cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac”.

The law allows no exceptions for rape or incest. It is now in effect but is being challenged in court.

Go to MSN Home

AdChoices

More from The Independent

The Independent

View the full site

AdChoices